Two heads are Better than One,..Roberts WSII Drop Bar Build.

[sinnerman]

Re: Two heads are Better than One.......

The White Spider model had centre stage for the Roberts frame shop and its hand built Mountain bike range with huge racing successes for a considerable time, all the while with the ever changing fast moving market constantly evolving and at pace I can only liken to Batman Chasing Superman.

With a little digging the first record I can source of the White Spider II, came in late 90, when tubing choices were increasing, geometry was changing, brake placement was being played with, tyre clearances becoming better, headset sizes looked at, fork stability becoming better, weights for strength the topic of the hour...,

By 1992 our market had evolved and the DOGS BOLOX was well and truly centre stage, the White Spider II meanwhile all the time evolving as rider demands changed and increased, I was lucky with this WSII as it is a late 92 fabrication.

And that left some Spec Choices

 

[Giom6]

Re:

That is amazing Carl, I love it. I've not heard of the WSII so again I have learnt something new. Sorry if you've already gone through this but what was the main difference between the two?

I love the imagination and originality – brilliant! I always struggle with the paint scheme and you just seem to pop up with them just like that...

It must have taken you ages to mask everything off? Who did the paint for you? Did you do it yourself?

The forks and pink decals are very cool

Are you going for a mix of components?

 

[xxnick1975]

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This is looking fabulous. Will be interesting to see the look with the drops etc

 

[Giom6]

Re:

I think he drops will look great.

I definitely want to do a drop bar build...

 

[sinnerman]

Re: Re:

That is amazing Carl, I love it. I've not heard of the WSII so again I have learnt something new. Sorry if you've already gone through this but what was the main difference between the two?

I love the imagination and originality – brilliant! I always struggle with the paint scheme and you just seem to pop up with them just like that...

It must have taken you ages to mask everything off? Who did the paint for you? Did you do it yourself?

The forks and pink decals are very cool

Are you going for a mix of components?

As i understand it,
Each White Spider was in a constant state of change, and built individually for each rider, Dave Hemmings White Spider for example had evolved from the Road Tubed CR753 used by the likes of Gould and Baker, to a mix of Columbus Max, Tange Prestige and used a Nivacrom seat tube. The Ultra Light a different model again, Im still unclear where the II came from, apart form asking Chas if the Stratos was ever to have been named White Spider II, he said NO, the E-stay was always a Stratos, the White Spider II a progression of the model. The confusion i think came from bad Advert Copy for MBUK ads, (see example ad below)

To my mind, as an onlooker with interest, its like a cumulative effect, each fabrication playing its part in the development of its New stable mate the D.O.G.S B.O.L.O.X.

This Model used the Mtb Specific 531 tubes for the main frame, and Tange Prestige for the rear with ample tyre clearance factored in for bigger tyes, with an 1" 1/8th headtube intended for the Manitou fork, the signature seat tube stayed as did its cable route and by this time the seat binder was also forward facing.

Ref the Paint, it took two heads to think of this one, not a great deal of masking really once it was prepd and ready for paint, a simple coat of black, apply decals, paint white and wait, then very carefully remove all the decals, it was done in a proper paint booth, took many trips, about 10 hours of time and as embarrassed as i am, i cant say i applied the clear coat, no confidence there im afraid.

Still a fair bit to do, ill DA the brake bosses and chase all the threads prior to assembly. The forks im not happy with and im just waiting for replacement decals from Gil and ill get straight back on it, and do them again.

Given a Drop bar option, it came to a Shifter decision for me, to determine the spec, a 90s drop bar build is a lot harder for me than an 80s model to get my head around, so many different views on the topic here, so just going to wing it and experiment a little like we did Bitd.

 

[sinnerman]

Re: Re:

This is looking fabulous. Will be interesting to see the look with the drops etc

I think I will be a little sceptical until ive ridden it for sure, the bars have a flair in the bend, (no idea if that makes sense ), and the Stem is a Salsa fit for the purpose, how it will ride with a Suspension fork as well, I guess the likes of Tomac only knows. :facepalm:

Thoughts rested on XC Pro..., Grease Guard, and Self Energizing brakes, Command Shifters, non Microdrive for ring changes etc.

 

[sinnerman]

Re: Re:

I think he drops will look great.

I definitely want to do a drop bar build...

Its Fun trying something different, for sure, I have sourced a Salsa stem option which I shall paint if needed, and I can always run it with flat bars instead, but my only memory of a drop bar build was my old production Specialized Rock Combo, Medium spec level, super wide dropbars and barcon shifters, it was ok, but not great,

This is certainly an itch that could be scratched, with a better build level on a better frame than of old, and kinda nice it started with a question simply over paint.

 

[sinnerman]

Re:

I thought these might work....?

 

[Rod_Saetan]

Re: Two heads are Better than One.......

Rad.

I am lead to believe these are the lever of choice for those rockin' dirt drops:

Do you know how good Chas' records were, ie if he made note of model/tube specs by frame number, and if so, who has those records now?

 

[MatBH5]

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If you look on the 'old' Roberts website, it suggests that a former employee has the records and for £15 will look through to see whether there exist records for a given frame #.
Previously I'd asked about a couple of frames, but the response was a friendly indication that they sometimes looked at records a couple of times a year and might let me know if they found anything...